#sleep token analysis

[the-impulse-to-love]

i still can't get over the fact how the new album is even in arcadia.

like. take me back to eden, and now even in arcadia.

take me back to eden, which is a paradise that was inhabited in and later lost due to the sin of eating the forbidden fruit.

even in arcadia, which is an idyllic paradise of a real region in greece. a concept that was romanticized and explored during the renaissance that is said to be unobtainable and lost.

and the phrase "even in" -- referring to the phrase "et in arcadia ego," roughly meaning "even in arcadia, there i am." a phrase used as a title to painter nicolas poussin's painting (left) depicting three shepherds and a woman. yet, this work was inspired by a work of the same name done by artist guercino (right), done about a decade before. and his work has themes of memento mori, a reminder that death is always There, with the image of a skull reinforcing the idea of the title.

all just to say...

vessel wants to be taken back to eden -- back to a way when things were idyllic and perfect. and yet, if he obtains this, if he somehow gets to arcadia, he's met with the harsh reality that his paradise is unobtainable and lost. "i" -- whether that be sleep, death, or some other figure -- they are still there in what appears to be paradise, even if vessel wants to escape from them...

[melit0n]

A lyric that originally confused me a bit in Provider was, "your outer shell; your secret insider." At first, it seemed a bit of a backwards juxtaposition, one that didn't match up as well as others in their discography.

My first thought was that it was referring to being someone's 'protector' of sorts. Existing as a hardened exoskeleton, yet simultaneously managing to settle under the skin of the very person they're shielding. Barely even there, but making a home where it's well deserved.

Then, I remembered the chemistry motif. The "outer shell," typically refers to the last 'shell' around an atom, otherwise known as a valance shell. Basically, electrons surround a nucleus in varying levels (first shell holds two, second holds eight, the third eighteen etc.), and, the number of electrons on the furthest shell decide its chemical properties (how reactive it'll be, is it flammable etc.), and, if it'll be "acid or alkaline."

Neat little possible callback, I thought.

Furthermore, if an atom has an incomplete outer shell, it'll be unstable, but through a covalent bond (in non-metals), can be stabilized if another molecule shares it's electrons.

In short, they become equal; on stable ground with one another. To be someone's "outer shell," means to have a chemical, balanced bond with them; to keep them steady.

I think that really fits, considering the title of the song.

[downinthevoid3]

Anyone else remember those interviews Vessel did in 2017-19? Did you know those essentially disprove the existence of Sleep as a deity?

Don't get me wrong, this fun theatrical story of a deity and his torment of a person he uses to spread his message to the world is very interesting to think about but I constantly find myself stuck on certain details. Things just don't line up, you can't exactly create a coherent story without having to create part of it yourself or heavily infer major parts of the story. This alone has led me to creating a Google Doc to analyze the lore of this band and digging much further into the band. While working on a section dedicated to explaining the complicated existence of this deity, I came across old interviews with Vessel that fully disprove the entire idea of Sleep.

“He is the oldest God, a primal majesty that has endured the ages unperturbed by the mortality of a flawed and chaotic human race… He is everyone. He is you. There’s a power in music that binds us all, every note relates to another. He showed me a vision of a world filled with depth and texture.” (Metal Hammer, July 25, 2017)

 “There exists a considerable body of art that explores the deeper recesses of the human mind… Sleep Token serves as a means to explore this on an individual basis. The music is a representation of one individual’s deepest and most fundamental emotions and desires. This is what people connect to. They see themselves in this individual, and the music becomes about them.” (Metal Hammer, August 1, 2018)

Between both of these quotes, we can gather that Sleep does exist but isn't the deity everyone thinks he is. Rather Sleep is a personification of how one's emotions and desires push them in life.

[tempered-grace]

thinking about how one theme in EIA is healing, but more specifically how no one can save you but yourself

in LTW - you wish that you could make me whole

in which the narrator recognizes that this person can’t save him. not completely. it is still him with the sword, him treading water, gasping that first breath. there may be hands outstretched to help you but you have to first reach up and take that hand

nothing else is quite the same as how it feels when I am at your side

plus

taking it stride by stride together

and even

walk beside me

in that the narrator isn’t asking for someone to save him. just for a companion. to make the road less lonely, not to be carried down it.

culminating in infinite baths — I have fought so long to be here

*he* has fought to get this far. yes, he isn’t alone now, but ultimately this was something that he overcame, his own battle to fight, his own triumph.

this album as a whole is a lot more introspective and reflective, and I think it shows a contrast from the songs in specifically sundowning and tomb, where the narrators focus is solely another person, their presence and absence and actions. we see the first shift in TMBTE (in either granite or aqua regia, I would argue — he really is done dancing to alarm bells and oops this needs to be its own post lol) towards this recognition of the narrator having value just as himself, without everything being in relation to this other person.

[sleepycanopy]

“the waters are warm” - life/relationship has joy in it, comfort

“where they used to run freezing” - cold, rocky, unstable, unhappiness in life/relationship

[yet-another-music-enjoyer]

i need time to think about and further flesh this out but was anyone else drawing a lot of parallels between Iron Lung and the Teeth of God graphic novel??

[acr1ms0n-d3scend]

Greetings, I am here to tell you about the flowers of the artwork. From what I've seen it, they look like yellow carnations. And- they look like they are.

And guess what it represents?

Honestly, i'm not sure if I'm right tho. So, feel free to correct me.

[autumnstar06]

I suspect that II is in the lore of Sleep Token He is the only other official band member other than Vessel and is the only other one with an album (again, aside from Vessel) This line in their new song got me thinking 'You might be the one to take away the pain, And let me mind go quiet, And nothing else is quite the same as how I feel when I'm at your side' I feel like this is Vessel referring to the same person he was talking to/about in Rain

In the Say that You Will visualiser, much like their new song, Vessel is singing off beat, I feel like Vessel is trying to make a melody that Sleep wants 'You need the melody I only need the silence' - higher So Vessel might be trying to make a melody for him but is doing it alone so he has to do everything himself As soon as the drums (II) come into the song, the videos in the visualizer are turned upside down, and they don't come back to normal even when Vessel starts singing again

Unrelevant to my last point but the Sundowning visualizers MEAN things, and i never see people talking about them, I'll probably make a post on them

'That the vicious cycle was over The moment you smiled at me' - Rain

The house must endure/The cycle must end

What if the cycle has already happened before, and II is the one who is being the one who's allowing Vessel to end it What if this other person helps Vessel gain the confidence to break the cycle he has been caught in

'I can hear you say my name' - Rain II is saying Vessels name, something had done for Sleep times II is seeing Vessel for who he is, not trying to change him like Sleep tries to (higher)